As the deadline allowing workers to sell stocks in the social networking website approached, experts raised fears millions of dollars could be wiped off the company’s share price.

But the opposite happened when Wall Street opened on Wednesday morning – with Facebook shares trading at £13.92 at peak levels.

Shares were trading at almost £14 when the New York Stock Exchange opened on Wednesday (Picture: Reuters)

About 800million shares were eligible for sale for the first time since the company floated on the stock exchange in May.

It’s value has roughly halved since then, but ‘insiders’ choosing to keep rather than sell shares meant Facebook’s value went up, said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at the New-York based Solaris Group.

‘Given the low price, these long-term holders are deciding to hold the stock, and that is lifting it,’ he said.

Key members of Facebook’s management sold shares recently. Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 530million shares for £7million, while board member Peter Thiel made £252million by selling his stake.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 28, has pledged not to sell any shares before September 2013.